“Spottee”

Description

"Come all you good people and listen to me, And a comical jest I will tell unto ye, Concerning one Spottee that lived on the law key...." The wild man frightens women and children and horses; many hope to see him move, but sailors will not take him

Supplemental text

Spottee
  Partial text(s)

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From Stokoe/Reay, Songs and Ballads of Northern England, pp. 72-73.

Come, all you good people, and listen to me,
And a comical jest I will tell unto ye,
Concerning one Spottee that lived on the law key,
That had neither house nor harbour he.

The au'd wives of Whitburn did not knaw what for tae dee,
For they durs'n't come and see their husbands when they cam to the key;
For he frighted baith them, and their infants tee,
Did this roguish fellow they call Spottee.

(Stanzas 1-2 of 8)

Notes

Stokoe quotes Sir Cuthbert Sharp to the effect that song tells of an actual madman "who lives in a cave between Whitburn and Sunderland, which still retains the name of 'Spottee's Hole.'" - RBW

References

1. Stokoe/Reay, pp. 72-73, "Spottee" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. ST StoR072 (Partial)
3. Roud #3142
4. BI, StoR072